Eddie Bravo Arrested in the UK, Deported Back to US
For a foreign Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor to hold a seminar legally in the United Kingdom, he or she must obtain a valid work visa.
Unclear on the intricacies of this strictly enforced law, former longtime UFC employee and 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo found himself behind bars on Saturday for violating it.
Bravo, a famed BJJ instructor who regularly conducts seminars in the UK, was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday afternoon for attempting to run a seminar without a proper work visa.
The following afternoon, Bravo announced on his Twitter page that he'd detail the arrest on the latest installment of Eddie Bravo Radio on Sunday.
On Sunday's edition of Eddie Bravo Radio, the longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who's also dealt with immigration issues in Canada, talked about how the situation arose.
Quote:
|
Generally when people teach seminars out of the country generally, they just say they're here for holiday. But some countries have super tight immigration, and Canada is one of them. I decide to show up (in London)...no more lying. I show them my itinerary. ... They took me right into a detention center in the airport.
|
Bravo waited several hours in the holding cell alongside fellow prisoners before being moved to a remote meeting room, where he was told he was being deported back to the United States.
Although the unpleasant encounter resulted in the postponement of several seminars in the UK, Bravo said he took something positive from the experience.
"It was good for me," Bravo said. "I got a tiny little, little taste of what being imprisoned feels like."
Canadian immigration doesn't require U.S. citizens to obtain work visas to conduct business in Canada.
However, in 2013, Canadian immigration discovered that Bravo, who was unaware of Canada's guidelines on the matter, had been dishonest regarding several seminars he planned to conduct in Canada. As a result, Bravo got banned from the country for a year.
Bravo, whose birth name is Edgar Cano, originally made waves in the sphere of grappling by upsetting three-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club champ Royler Gracie (under-66 kg) with a triangle choke as a brown belt at the 2003 ADCC in Brazil.
Bravo resigned from his post at the
UFC after seven years of playing several roles for the company. During his time at the UFC, Bravo served as the company's unofficial scorer and grappling replay director and as a post-fight interviewer and analyst.
Jiu-Jitsu Founder in UK Jail -Deported to US
PUTIN TRUMP & Netanyahu Will Meet in HELL
1.. 
Linear Mode
